Malaria poses a serious burden in sub-Sahara Africa. Efforts are ongoing to scale up interventions that work. These include the use of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLIN), Intermittent Preventive Treatment in children (IPTc), and test, treat and track (TTT). There is the need, however, for mass testing, treatment and tracking (MTTT) of the whole population to reduce the parasite load before implementing the aforementioned interventions. Though, Seasonal Malaria Chemoprophylaxis (SMC) is adopted for selected localities in Ghana, the impact of such interventions could be enhanced, if associated with MTTT in order to reduce the parasite load at baseline. MTTT of children in Ghana has demonstrated a parasite load reduction from 25% to 1%. However, unanswered questions include - could this be scaled up? What proportion of the community could be covered over a given time? What would it take to accomplish large scale MTTT? In designing interventions that aim at reducing the burden of malaria in children under five, for example, MTTT has largely been left out. Adults who are not often targeted by such interventions remain reservoirs that fuel transmission. This study explores the scale-up of interventions that work using existing community volunteer teams to lower cost. These volunteers will play a surveillance role by conducting home-based management of malaria. To avoid challenges posed by stockouts, short message service (SMS) will be used to monitor the level of stocks for malaria medicine and Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs). It is hypothesized that there are more asymptomatic malaria cases (those who carry the parasite but are not ill) than symptomatic cases reported by hospital records in the Pakro sub district and that, carrying out MTTT in combination with home-based management of malaria in specific communities could greatly reduce the burden. Through this study, the bottlenecks that hinder scaling-up of MTTT will be documented in order to facilitate the process.
Age range
2 Months – 15 Years
Sex
ALL
See this in plain English?
AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.
Bring these to your next appointment. They're a starting point for a shared conversation — not a sign you qualify or a recommendation to enrol.
Generated to help you prepare — always confirm anything about your own eligibility and care with the study team and your doctor.
The trial coordinator is the person who runs the study day to day. These cover the practical side — logistics, costs, and what taking part would actually mean for your life. The study team confirms whether you meet the criteria; these are questions to ask, not a sign you qualify.
A starting point for the conversation — always confirm anything about your own eligibility, costs, and care with the study team and your doctor.
The rate of asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia among afebrile children aged 6 months to 15 years and adults in the Pakro sub district will be known.
Timeframe: Once every 4 months, over a period of 24 months
The proportion hospital admissions due to malaria that are averted as a result of MTTT implementation will be determined.
Timeframe: 24 months
The list of challenges that needs to be addressed to enable scale-up of MTTT interventions feasible in Ghana.
Timeframe: 24 months